SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF SCHENECTADY MONTHLY GRAM April, 2014 Important!! Who has the key to the mailbox at the Niskayuna PO? This is very Important!! It s going to be a busy Spring!! Read on Monthly Meeting: Meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 6:00PM at the Stockade Inn. This is Awards Night so make an extra effort to be there. Jo-Anne Rafalik will be Mistress of Ceremonies. We will recognize the women and girls who are the beneficiaries of the money we raise by working so hard during the year. They are as follows: WOA - Jodi L. Hocking Beatrice Hocking Scholarship at SCCC Amethyst E. Stark Violet Richardson Award Felicia Dodge (will be at the May meeting) Community Service Awards Safe Inc. of Schenectady Hamilton Hill Arts Center Please bring the garden tools or equipment that you signed up for. We already have the wheelbarrow, courtesy of Home Depot in Schenectady. Slate of officers will be presented for voting in May. Highway Cleanup: yes, it s that time again. Lesley Shimer has set up the time for 8:00AM on Saturday, April 26 th. Meet in the parking lot behind Oliver s on Freemans Bridge Road. If you have a vest, wear it, if you have a picker, bring it. Hopefully, it will be a nice day. The more ladies who come, the faster the job gets done. See you there! Mooncatchers, the Pad Project: For those of you interested in supporting a very worthwhile project, which will make a better life for women and girls, Ellie vonwellsheim is back and will have the next sewing bee on Monday, April 28 th, 7-9PM at Temple Sinai, 509 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY. If you can bring a sewing machine, ironing board, iron, scissors, sewing needles or small buttons, notify Ellie at gipsywort@aol.com. There are jobs for everyone! May Meeting: We will have a speaker from Mayan Hands at this meeting. Many of you will remember that we donated funds for sewing machines for this organization in the past. Also, Felicia Dodge, the winner of the Violet Richardson Award will be in attendance. New members will be installed. Tickets for the Garden Tour & raffle will be passed out. Women will be recognized for their years of service to our Club. The Capital Region Heart Walk will be Saturday, May 10 th at the Crossings of Colonie, www.capitalregionheartwalk.org.
The 10 th annual Capital Region Go Red for Women Luncheon will be held on Thursday, May 22 nd, 10:00AM to 1:00PM at the Albany Marriott. Go on line to www.capitalregionnygoredluncheon.org. SIS s YSS: Barbara has our Club setting up shop at the Spring Conference in State College, PA. We ve done very well in the past. Women love to go shopping! Peace Garden: Ida is home now and we will be hearing about her plans for the Peace Garden somewhere in Central Park. She has several ideas for the location. It will be a garden that will basically take care of itself with minimum upkeep, once established. Spring Conference: May 2 May 4 in State College, Pa. Lorraine, Barbara, Mary Mortka, Frieda and our new future member, Joan Mikalson will be in attendance and all will help with the YSS. Sylvia is making a gift basket for the raffle. Biennial Garage Sale: This event is co-chaired by Frieda and Mary Mortka. Please mark your calendars for Friday, May 9 nd & Saturday, May 10 th, the days of the sale, we need everyones help to sell, sell, sell. And we will need members to sort, price and display before that day. Remember to set aside your extra stuff and we will pick it up in the spring when Barbara will again have access to her garage. We may accept some clothing, shoes and pocketbooks but only if in excellent shape. Special seasonal items will be accepted. No stuffed animals, but toys, if in good shape, with all pieces. We will accept books, jewelry, furniture, kitchen items, collectibles, knick-knacks, etc. We will need some tents, if you have one or more, please let Frieda or Mary know the measurements. A garage sale is a lot of work but the last one raised almost $2,000.00 for Soroptimist. There will be a sign up sheet for the sale to be sure we are covered at the April meeting. Joint Installation: Tuesday, June 3, 2014, 6:00 PM, at the Stockade Inn, 1 North Church Street, Schenectady, Buffet Dinner $40.00, please mark your calendars. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Burch-Macherone at (518) 253-9882 or mburmach98@aol.com. There will be a special reading of A Phenomenal Woman by Carla Page. Since we are the hosts, it would be great if we had a showing other than officers-elect. The information will be attached at the end of this GRAM. Garden Tour: Gillian and Frieda will have 9 gardens participating for 2014. The date is Saturday, June 14th, rain or shine, 10AM to 4:00 PM mark your calendars now so we ll have 100% participation. We will need every member sitting at a garden and will pass out the signup list again at the April meeting. Deb DeGenova has graciously agreed to hold the Greet the Gardner event at her house again this year. It will be held on Sunday, June 8, beginning at 5:30PM. Please plan on attending so you can meet the gardeners. Also, sitters and gardeners will have the opportunity to visit each garden from Noon to 4:00 the same day.
Does anyone know of an address for a past member, Barbara Lucas. She is ill and it would be nice to send a card from all of us. BFW: Barbara Andre-Maxwell has volunteered to be chairman of the event to take place in March 2015! She has great ideas and has asked for some volunteers to help her. More to follow when she gets back from San Francisco but put your thinking caps on. Guardian House: Mary has decided on a plan for May. Scotia has a Memorial Day Parade on May 21 st. She has arranged for us to march and to have the women vets ride in a blue convertible, 1990 Chrysler LaBarron. This will be a good opportunity for us to do something for the vets at Guardian House and promote SI of Schenectady. She hopes for full participation by members who will be asked to wear black slacks and white shirts with the blue Soroptimist scarf, if possible. Nominating Committee: Ida and Mary Mortka have a slate of officers lined up and will present it at the April meeting for voting in May. Reminders: For members unable to attend the March meeting, you are responsible for notifying Lorraine Sturges no later than 5PM on the Sunday preceding the meeting. Lorraine can be reached either by email at lmstur57@gmail.com or by phone at 399-6268. Members who fail to notify Lorraine by the date and time specified will be billed for the cost of the dinner. Prospective members, please notify Lorraine that you will be attending the February meeting. The cost of the dinner is $28.00. First time attendees will be our guests. Please remember to notify Jo-Anne if your address, phone number or email address changes so that the Membership Booklet may be kept current. Jo-Anne can be reached at joannevr@verizon.net or 377-9602. Information needs to be submitted by the 3rd of the month for inclusion in that month's GRAM which will be out after the board meeting. Please notify Frieda at ftanski@nycap.rr.com or 885-9710, should you have any information you would like to have included. If you know of the death or illness of a member or ex-member or a special event in their lives, please notify Frieda ftanski@nycap.rr.com so she can send a card, also she needs to know your birth date. Remember to wear your name badges to all events, not only to identify yourselves but to advertise Soroptimist International of Schenectady. Wear your pins to spark a conversation! If you buy anything for the club, remember to use a tax-exempt certificate. If you need one, they are available from Barbara, our treasurer.
Board meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month at the Turf in Scotia (except for August) and all are welcome. President: Lorraine Sturges Treasurer: Barbara Andre-Maxwell 1st VP: Frieda Tanski 1 Year Director: Sandy Johnson 2 nd VP: Ida Chisamore 2 Year Director: Mary Burch-Macherone Secretary: Donna Gigone /Mary Mortka 2 year Director: Deb DeGenova MARK YOUR CALENDARS April 15 Awards night & general meeting-winners of WOA and Beatrice Hocking Award will be at meeting, as well as people for the Community Service Awards. April 26, Saturday- Meet in the parking lot behind Oliver s to clean up Freemans Bridge Rd., Hopefully the weather will cooperate. April 30 th Get Susan Daly out of jail at Katie O Byrnes, 121 Wall St., Schenectady, for more info contact Susan at 428-8830. May 1 4 th - NAR Conference, State College, PA., we have five women attending. Sylvia is making a gift basket as our club s donation. May 9 & 10 Biennial Garage Sale May 17 th Niska Day, 11-4:00PM, Come and sit at the table where we will be selling Garden Tour and raffle tickets and extolling the virtue of becoming a Soroptimist. May 20 th, regular meeting, winner of the Violet Richardson Award will be in attendance and speaker from Mayan Hands. May 21 st Memorial Day Parade in Scotia - We Support Women Vets June 3 - Joint installation at the Stockade Inn, all are invited, we are the hosts this year and would like to have good attendance to welcome the other three clubs. (Saratoga, Fulton and Adirondack), Mary Burch Macherone is planning a great evening to welcome our fellow Soroptimists, price will be $40. Carla Page will offer a special reading of Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. June 8 th Greet the Gardeners event at Deb DeGenova s & preview of gardens for sitters & other gardeners. June 14 th - Annual Garden Tour, mark your calendar, you are needed to sit at a garden, please sign up at April meeting.
June 17 th - Picnic, more to follow. September 19 th Sweet Dreams Awards & Scholarships: Beatrice Hocking Award to SCCC: $2,000. Community Service Awards: $2500. Violet Richardson Award: $500. & $200. Women s Opportunity Award: $2,000. Thank you s Nancy McKiernan who keeps our web-site up to date. Sylvia Anapolis for making the gift basket for Conference. She always does a beautiful job! Ida & Sandy for working on updating the by-laws and info for new members. Jane and Price Chopper for providing the centerpieces, African violets, for the tables at Installation. To anyone that I forgot. To all the Soroptimist members without whose support we would not be able to continue. (be sure to check out the flier on the next page)